The Others: Jennifer Rathe
by TheZorker
Summary: When Buffy unlocked the other potential slayers, perhaps she didn't realize the danger for girls around the world...
1. First Game

This original fiction, set in the Vampire Slayer universe is the property of Mutant Enemy, should they want to take it. Characters featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer are most definitely them.  
  
Take a moment to review, or privately E-Mail TheZorker@aol.com what you thought worked and what you know just didn't. Nothing encourages me to keep going like a well worded piece of "I read this and...".  
  
The Others:  
  
The Slayers in Training were told they had a choice.  
  
They were told it was coming.  
  
They couldn't tell everyone.  
  
My story is not unique, I'm just still around to tell it.  
  
My story, however, isn't about me at all. It begins in the house of a young girl, not yet in middle school.  
  
Chapter One: First Game  
  
"The only way is onward. There is no turning back."  
  
-Treguard, Knightmare  
  
Her name was Jennifer Rathe, and to look at her, she was an ordinary fifth grade girl. She kept her brown hair shoulder length, and her light blue eyes bubbled with life. She was a little taller, perhaps, then other girls, and a little more athletic, but there was nothing extraordinary about her. At the moment, she was trying to think up excuses on a beautiful May Saturday, in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Bluff.  
  
The doorbell rang. She was too late. "Jenny!" came the exclamation of her mother up the stairs, "Brian's here!"  
  
Jenny pulled on her other cleat. She liked the sport of baseball fine. She just wasn't good at it, and therefore she didn't like playing it. Her friend Brian, however, adored it. It was all his fault, after all, persuading her to play in the local little league, and though there were no tryouts, she felt she didn't quite belong, she was one of only two girls. Pulling on her uniform, gold with black trim, she clambered down the stairs.  
  
Brian was waiting in his mother's wagon, his brown eyes smiling at her. She shook her head in mock exasperation, and with a hug from her mother, headed out to the car. Brian, with his black hair cropped short, held his hand out for a high five. Jennifer gave in, smiling.   
  
"I can't believe you talked me into this, Brian," Jenny said.  
  
"You LIKE baseball!" Brian told her, "You told me so yourself yesterday."  
  
"I don't know what I was thinking," she said, glancing out the window.  
  
"You were thinking it was such a shame Annika Sorenstam didn't do as well as she could have at the Colonial golf tournament. I think it might be a good thing, or you might be playing golf this weekend!"  
  
She stuck out her tongue at him. "I might yet."  
  
"Come on," he asked her. "Wouldn't you rather be the third baseman for the Cubs instead, and play on a team, rather than by yourself?"  
  
"I (sigh) suppose."  
  
The talk turned to the major leagues, with the Cubs still in first place, but it wasn't far to the away field.  
  
Coach Robinson was standing, surrounded by the other seven members of the team. Brian and Jenny had to run to join them, as he was finishing reading the line up. "You made it," he told them. "I was afraid you weren't going to. Brian, you'll be batting sixth and catching today. Jenny, you're batting eighth and playing first. We're on the field first today, so grab your gloves, and give them trouble!"  
  
David, who was their pitcher, was one of the two twelve year olds on the team, and a good pitcher. He sat down the first three batters, striking out one, one fly out, and a lazy grounder to third. Brian tossed the ball straight across to Jenny, and the inning was over.  
  
The opposing Libertyville team, however, was just as good defensively as the Bluffers, and the first inning ended with themselves going three up and down.  
  
The first ball of the second inning, was hit hotly straight at Jenny, who couldn't quite react quickly enough to catch it. Caroline was on the ball, however, and fired it into the second to keep the runner from advancing.  
  
David recovered afterward, and set down the next three hitters he faced.  
  
There were two outs in the bottom of the second before Lake Bluff knew what had happened. It was Brian who broke through, getting a single on a a sharply hit ball to left field. Frank continued with a single through the other side, advancing Brian to third.  
  
"Come on, Jenny! Bring me home!"  
  
Jenny watched the pitcher throw the first ball. She didn't even try to swing, but tried to gauge the pitch. Strike one.  
  
Jenny connected with the second pitch, but only tapped it weakly foul. Strike two.  
  
She gave the third one as hard a cut as she could...but only made contact with air. Put out on three pitches, she ended the hope for the side.  
  
The rest of the game was a disaster as far as Jenny was concerned. Her catching error in the fourth inning, while it didn't lose them the game, allowed additional 'insurance' runs to score. In her own defense, it was a hard throw to handle, and she made other plays.  
  
Her batting was more abysmal, and harder to defend. She managed to put the ball in play only once in her two other at bats (as the games were only six innings long), and in the sixth, she struck out with the bases loaded. Lake Bluff went down, four to one.  
  
Jenny stared out the window of the wagon, on the way home.  
  
"Cheer up Jenny. We'll practice together, and we'll get better," Brian told her.  
  
"I don't know, Brian, I just don't think I'm cut out for baseball."  
  
"Jenny, if I stick with it, I'm going to make you stick with it with me. You're the only one my age willing to try."  
  
Jenny mumbled something, and Brian let it go, for the moment.  
  
When Sunday rolled around, Jenny was surprised when Brian came knocking at her door. "You and I are going to work on our hitting. Come on, your mom says you need to go outside."  
  
I saw them that day, and for the next few days, in the evening, after school. They would practice until dusk and beyond. I lived across the street, and frequently walked my beagle, Penny, around their block.   
  
Jenny's timing, I learned later, improved. She didn't have the strength, perhaps, to hit one hard, however. She had to, in addition, be dragged out to start practicing, every day.  
  
"You're going to get your first hit tomorrow," Brian told her. "I can feel it."  
  
"I hope you're right," Jenny responded, unconvinced.  
  
Brian sighed, shaking his head. "We need to get you a dose of self confidence, but I don't know where to find it."  
  
The sun was down, but the lights of the neighborhood meant things were still lit, especially with the full moon. "Come on, Brian," Jenny said, "it's time for bed. If I'm to get my first hit tomorrow, I'm going to need plenty of sleep." 


	2. Becoming

Chapter 2: Becoming.  
  
"If you're seeking power..."  
  
-Tears for Fears, Power  
  
Another Saturday in Lake Bluff.  
  
Another game for Little League.  
  
It was Mrs. Rathe's turn to drive Brian and Jenny to the park, but they were away this time. Not that Lake Forest was a long trip, or anything.  
  
"I think it's good of you to keep getting Jenny to practice, Brian," Mrs. Rathe said as Brian buckled himself in.  
  
Brian grinned, Jenny just looked grumpy. "No problem, Mrs. Rathe. I've told Jenny that she's going to get her first hit today. She's not going to prove me wrong."  
  
Jenny sighed. "I wish I had your cheerfulness," she told him. "I almost lost our first game single-handedly."  
  
"If I had some way of forcing you to see that you'll do better today, I'd use it," Brian told her. "I'm fresh out. Baseball is a *team* game." Jenny turned and looked out the window, listening to the so called 'Adult Contemporary' on the radio. Somehow, this included the Backstreet Boys, and not even she liked them. "Come on, Jenny. I know how well you can do if you just try. So promise me you'll try today."  
  
Jenny flashed him a brief smile, "All right. I'll try."  
  
"That's all I can ask for, I guess," Brian said, still grinning.  
  
This time they were early, and Coach Williams nodded to Brian and Jenny as they jogged up to greet the team.  
  
"I'm still getting a feel where I want you all to be, and I think you should get practice playing all positions," Coach said, and began to read off positions.  
  
"Eighth and catcher?" asked Jenny. "Catcher? My knees are going to kill me."  
  
Jenny looked up to see David walking over to her. "As long as you catch the ball, your knees will forgive you," he smiled, "Let's make it easier by just retiring them all by ourselves."  
  
"Eighteen strikeouts, David?" asked Brian, who would be batting fifth and in right, "Now that's something I'd like to see."  
  
Andrew, who normally had Jenny's position, said, "Don't let up just because she's catching you, David. If she can't handle the heat, Coach'll move her."  
  
Jenny looked mortified, but Brian was angry. "Now look here, Andy," Brian said, hotly, "She just played her first game last week, you can't expect her to be like Corey Paterson all ready!"  
  
"She's a girl, she's never going to be like Paterson," Andrew said, coolly. "I won't be surprised if she's collared again today."  
  
"Caroline's the best hitter on the team," Brian countered.  
  
"She's one of a kind," Andrew responded. "I'm not waiting for anyone to be like Carol..."  
  
"Andrew! You're leading off, get ready!" came Coach's shout from the bench. Andrew jogged away, leaving Brian and Jenny staring at him. David just shook his head.  
  
"He's upset because he likes to play catcher. We're a good battery," David said. "Don't worry, Jenny. You'll do fine, I'm sure."  
  
The game began, and Andrew channeled his anger into a fierce corner double. Frank, batting second today, did his job and advanced the runner with a grounder single to right.  
  
Time was called, and the Lake Forest coach went in to settle down his pitcher. He settled down right enough, setting down Caroline and Keith. Brian came to he place, eyes fixed on the pitcher's glove.  
  
Brian worked the count to two and two before lining one into right field, scoring Andrew, who now wore a smile on his face. Despite the teams hopes, however, Scott hit a lazy fly ball to end the inning.  
  
Jenny approached the plate with trepidation, flipping her cap around, and putting on the mask, crouching. David walked by, "They've staked us to the lead all ready, Jenny, time to do our side of the bargain."  
  
David's first pitch was a common fast ball, and Jenny caught it...then it popped out. No harm done. The second pitch, a curve ball, Jenny caught that one cleanly. The third, a change-up that the opposing batter was way in front of. Jenny caught the ball, throwing it to first to record the out.  
  
Jenny got creative with one at out in the top of the second, with the coach's blessing. After taking the first pitch, she squared around, bunting the ball down the left field line, and darted up the baseline. It wasn't hit hard down the line, but it caught the catcher flat footed, and she beat the bobbled throw for a base hit. Her side cheered, no one louder then Brian. It went for naught though, she was left stranded.  
  
It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth that scoring was threatened by Lake Forest. Runners were at first and second with two outs, and their clean up hitter was at the bat. Jennifer was calling a solid, if not spectacular game, and David was pitching reasonably well. With a one-two count, Jenny called for a fast ball, and David served up a mistake. It got whacked into the right field, a sure single.   
  
Brian caught it on the hop, did the right thing, firing it to second base to hold the first runner, but that other one was faster, and was trying to crank it into home. Andrew relayed the throw to Jenny, who set herself up to tag the runner.  
  
The opposing runner was not kind, however, and tried to run right through her. Jenny wasn't set properly, and she was knocked to the ground where the ball popped out of her mitt. The umpire had no choice but to call him safe. In the ensuing chaos the runner alertly took third.  
  
He would score, when David was singled off of again, and Lake Bluff was down by a run. Andrew made his displeasure obvious when the side was retired.  
  
Jenny was up first at the top of the fifth inning, determined to get a real hit and atone for her mistake. She thought she had made solid contact with the first pitch, but only hit it to shallow center. Lake Bluff loaded the bases...but didn't push any across.  
  
Top of the sixth, and Lake Bluff's last chance. Brian led the inning off. The pitch was a two-two curve-ball that hung. Brian promptly lined the ball into right again for a stand up double.   
  
Scott flied out.  
  
Ralph struck out.  
  
Jenny felt like a zoo, she had both a frog in her throat and butterflies in her stomach. Taking a sip of water, she slipped the black batting helmet over her yellow ballcap.  
  
She shuddered again, walking up to the plate.   
  
The first ball was a fast ball strike. Jenny was too busy fighting wither her stomach to notice. She looked up again, stretching out momentarily, before crouching over the plate again. She held off on the second pitch...it was a curve...and a ball.  
  
Again, Jenny stretched out, looking at the pitcher, and bit her lip.   
  
At that moment, she felt a wave of nausea pass over her, and she bent over slightly. It was like an explosion was going inside of her, but only lasted a moment. She stood up straight the next moment, feeling different. It was an intoxicating feel of power, her eyes narrowed. She smiled. The pitcher was lost in his own gaze with the catcher, and he missed it, but Brian saw her, and he gave her a quick thumbs up.  
  
The pitch was a fast-ball, straight down the middle.  
  
CRACK!  
  
Wooden bat met ball and the ball lost. It went flying high enough, deep enough, and the left fielder could just watch it head into the stands.  
  
Home Run! Lake Bluff led three to two. Jenny circled the bases, amazed with herself. Brian was waiting for her as she touched home, giving her a quick embrace.  
  
They didn't get the chance to capitalize on the pitcher's amazement. David was a great pitcher, but a lousy hitter, and he went down swinging.  
  
Then it was time for David to shut the opposition down, but it was never that easy. Two outs, again. Runners on first and second again. They were different baserunners, but that didn't matter. It was Deja Vu all over again, to reference Yogi Berra, as the ball was hit into right field. Brian gloved it cleanly, throwing it into Andrew to hold the winning run.  
  
Andrew fired it to Jenny, trying to get the final out.  
  
Jenny braced herself, as this time she knew she was the target.  
  
Again, the Lake Forest player tried to bowl her over.  
  
This time, Jenny sat as immobile as mountain, and blocked the plate. The Lake Forest player stumbled as they collided, and the final out was recorded.  
  
Jenny continued to sit there, a stupid grin on her face.  
  
Brian was the first to congratulate her, both on the home run, and on the defensive play. "But don't think this gets you off. Tomorrow, we're back to practicing. You can teach me how to bunt like that."  
  
Jenny sighed, "One day off, please?"  
  
"All right, all right. Sunday, the heroine can rest. Monday then," he said.  
  
Jenny smiled, "All right. Monday it is. Now come on, we have some serious celebrating to do."  
  
Jenny may have felt like a hero then, but the true test was about come. 


	3. Trial and Terror

*Canon Alert*  
  
I may be breaking one of the rules of B:tVS in this chapter, but I think it falls under the "never been covered" category.  
  
Chapter 3: Trial and Terror  
  
"I see the Chaos for everyone  
  
but who are we, what can we do?"  
  
-Johnny Giodeli, Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure 1)  
  
I suppose I should comment about myself. I'm something of a gamer, and computer whiz. From Alderac's card game "Legend of the Five Rings" (where I am a loyal Unicorn) to playing a paladin in Bioware's "Baldur's Gate 2" I love stories of heroics and have always wanted to do something appropriately heroic myself.  
  
Jenny, on the other hand, was more interested in merely getting a good grade in English. She was just thankful there was this thing called "Summer Vacation" coming up within the week. First, she had to survive finals, or at least final papers.  
  
She was full of nervous energy that Monday in school. Not that she was unique, a lot of people were like that. Summer vacation had a way with people, after all.  
  
It rained Monday. It rained hard. Thus, when gym came around, the gym teacher gave up all hope of control, and merely set up a few rounds of a game known as "Pin Dodgeball".  
  
Pin Dodgeball is a team game, where equal sized teams (these were about fourteen strong), started tossing red rubber balls back and forth. Get hit by a ball on the fly, you were out. Be hit on the bounce, and you were OK. First team to knock out the other or knock down all four bowling pins on the other team's side won the round, and the game began again.  
  
Jenny was in rare form that day. She threw straight and hard, and dodged away from all but the most perfectly thrown projectiles.  
  
In the locker room, she changed back out of her sweats adjacent to her friend Lura. "That was incredible. I've never seen anyone move like that, and I'm in gymnastics!"  
  
Jenny shook her head, "I don't know, Lura. I was just," she paused, grinned for a second, "Living by my own feelings," she sang.   
  
"Where'd that come from?"  
  
"I don't know. There's a guy who walks his dog near my house. He's always singing when he's out. It's one of his lines," Jenny responded.  
  
"Anyway, I think you should ditch baseball. You looked like a natural gymnast out there."  
  
"I forgot to tell you!" Jenny said, suddenly excited, "I hit a home run yesterday!"  
  
"Wow! Forget I said that! Good for you!" Lura said, smiling. A call from the stairs indicated they were going to be late for class, so they had to quickly finish changing and make their way to their next class.  
  
The rain continued all evening. Jenny resorted to preemptively calling Brian, to make sure she wasn't going to be made to practice in the cold.  
  
So it was Tuesday when they came out to practice again, and they started later then they normally did. English papers do get in the way.  
  
They warmed up with a simple game of catch, underhanded tossing back and forth.  
  
"You been eating your Wheaties, Jenny?" asked Brian, "I've never felt you throw so hard."  
  
Bunting was next, something Jenny and Coach Williams had been working on. Jenny was showing Brian where she held her hands on her first base hit, and the sun was about set. Again, it was a well lit street, and not quite bed time.  
  
"Don't choke up on the bat, if you're going to try to drop the bunt, Brian," she told him. "Spread..." she faltered, "spread your hands..." she clasped her hand to her head. "Ow...that's owww."  
  
Brian dropped the bat with a clatter. "You all right, Jenny?" he asked.  
  
"I... I... there's something...ow," She shook her head. In the distance, a dog barked. "I think there's someone watching us."  
  
She turned to her left, across the street. He looked like had walked out of a '30s gangster movie. He was a pale Caucasian, wearing a somewhat cheesy plaid suit.  
  
"I never wanted to deal with the slayer, sister," he told her. "It was simple in Chicago, make money, get meals, and cheer on the White Sox at Comiskey. Nobody noticed when a bum or two vanished." Jenny looked into his brown eyes, only knowing something was terribly wrong.  
  
"It all changed last Saturday. I could feel the slayer there, so I knew it was time to book. I figured I could still catch the occasional game without putting myself in too much risk." The dog barked again, this time closer.  
  
"But now I'm here, and I still feel 'Slayer'. I've been thinking, and I think someone changed the rules on me. On us. Well, it's either that, or someone just had the shortest slayer run in history. Either way, I'm going to cover my bases and reduce the population."  
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Brian, stepping up in front of Jenny, bravely.  
  
"Well, I wasn't expecting *you* to know, but she doesn't know yet? Did I beat your watcher? I guess I'll just show you."  
  
The brown eyes flickered to red, his face twisted in an unrecognizable snarl. It was then both Brian and Jenny noticed the fangs.  
  
"That's...not...possible! Vampires don't exist!" said Brian, his voice weak, and he fell back a step.  
  
The vampire jumped, and Brian fell backward, trying to knock Jenny out of the way. Jenny wasn't his target, however. He grabbed at the fallen bat, hurling it into the grass at the end of the block. "I'm just not in the mood for risking anything wooden tonight, you know."  
  
The second jump came. Jenny's instinctive reflexes may have been enough for dodgeball, but a vampire? That was something else, she was grabbed by the vampire's strong embrace. "I'm told blood of the slayer is quite intoxicating." He leaned down...  
  
And screamed, more in surprise then in pain. A dog, beagle to be specific, had sunk her own fangs into his leg.  
  
I panted, running after the loose leash. "PENNY!"  
  
The vampire kicked, knocking my dog back towards me, their growls running together.  
  
The shift in attention gave Jenny the chance she needed to get the vampire off of her. She shot him a quick kick to the most obvious target, the groin. She didn't know how to kick, well, but it did it's job. The vampire doubled over in pain, but it was still between Jenny, Brian, and now myself, and the bat.  
  
I had been about to apologize profusely before I saw this gamely twelve year old kick him. And I saw his 'game' face.  
  
Well, I'd seen uglier art on a piece of maho featuring Shahai. This was real though, I took a step back.  
  
"This is starting to get crowded. Give me the slayer, and I won't hurt the rest of you," the vampire told us, his eyes flaming red.  
  
I grabbed my anxious beagle's leash before she could come to her senses and try to chomp Mr. Personality again, and felt hurriedly in my pocket. It was a prop for a tournament...it was...there.  
  
"No way. I'm not going to abandon my friend," Brian said, trying to cover the fear in his voice, he gripped Jenny's hand tightly. Jenny's eyes were blue, but burned with intensity. Brian told me later that it reminded of him of the way she looked at the Lake Forest pitcher.  
  
The pendant I pulled out of my pocket was, in fact, a prop I wore while playing Legend of the Five Rings. A small, pewter, pendant. It wasn't a cross, I just prayed to every divine entity that I could think of it would work.  
  
I was about to stake my life on it, after all.  
  
I stepped forward, clutching the chain in my first, letting the pendant dangle forward. "In the name of Shinjo, Tyr, and the Powers that Be, stay BACK!"  
  
"That just doesn't sound impressive," mumbled Brian.  
  
The vampire didn't like it either, but in a different way. He jumped back and snarled. He looked angrier than ever, but was unable to advance any further. The standoff continued for a minute or so, then the vampire turned and fled into the night.  
  
"My house is right there," I said. "If the legends are true, we'll be safe there."  
  
Jenny swallowed, and nodded. Brian looked down the street at the bat, but followed us in backing up into the house.  
  
Opening my door, the beagle bounded in, Jenny and Brian slipped in. I was the last one in, still clutching my pendant, searching the night for any sign of our undead adversary.  
  
The night was still as the red door closed. 


	4. Covering the Bases

Chapter 4: Covering the Bases  
  
"How much further do I have to go?  
  
And how much longer until I finally know?"  
  
-Hoobastank, Crawling in the Dark  
  
We sat down in my basement, looking at each other. To the side, the beagle who had tasted flesh just minutes before was now happily chewing on a piece of rawhide called a 'pig's ear'. I was sitting in front of my computer, Jenny collapsed into an easy chair in front of the small TV, Brian between us.  
  
No one spoke.  
  
I hate uncomfortable silences, almost as much as Pyro does. I just solved it without turning on N'Sync.   
  
My computer was on, as it always is. I turned on Winamp, searching for something suitable. Tony Harnell's "It Doesn't Matter" came on. It seemed like something appropriate to try to turn the mood around.  
  
Brian spoke first, "Vampires?" he asked, no one in particular.  
  
"Vampires," I concurred.  
  
"It wanted me," said Jenny, sounding small. "Why me? Why am I so important?"  
  
"I don't know, Jenny, I don't know," said Brian.  
  
"It feels almost anticlimactic, but who are you?" I asked, then blushed, "I mean, to people who aren't oxygen challenged?"  
  
"Jennifer," she said, after a moment's pause. "Jennifer Rathe, Lake Bluff fifth grader."  
  
"I'm Brian Spark, also in Lake Bluff's fifth grade. And on the baseball team, as she is."  
  
"And my name's John. John Randall. I'm... uhm...currently taking computer classes for a certification. Can you tell me what happened, before Penny took offense to a predator on her block?"  
  
Jenny was still too shaken by what had happened to think truly coherently. Brian related what happened before I arrived. "Falling for the First Time" began to play.  
  
"Slayer?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know!" cried Jenny, "I don't...know."  
  
"It's so unreal," he said. "What's 'the' slayer?"  
  
"Ok, so we don't know what that means. What *do* we know?"  
  
"He didn't come until after the sun fell, so I think the story about the sun rays are true," Jenny began.  
  
"He definitely threw my bat away, saying he didn't want to risk anything wooden. So a stake through the heart..."  
  
"Would scare him, to death. Redeath, anyway," I finished. I started for a second. "Wait a minute, how do you know he wasn't watching you before hand?"  
  
"I....I felt him. When he got close. It was something dark...on the border of my mind," Jenny said, wincing as she remembered, "It stung, just a little."  
  
"Maybe you are something special, something that worries him," I said.   
  
She looked at me, with palpable fear, "I hope not. I didn't want superpowers, I just wanted to make the major leagues."  
  
Brian reached out, giving her hand a squeeze.  
  
"And it doesn't like holy symbols," I concluded, "I don't have a specific symbol, so this was enough. Most people use crosses."  
  
"What does that give us," Jenny asked?  
  
"Well, I've got nothing to shape into a stake...or a cross," I said, pondering. "What I do have is something I picked up at Gen-Con." I got up, digging in my closet. "It's in here somewhere."  
  
"What are you looking for, John?"  
  
"This," I said, pulling out a slightly rusty blade. "I just wish it was sharp."   
  
"Where'd you get the sword?" asked Brian. His eyes were wide as I took a few practice swings, glancing irritated at the discoloration in the metal. It was a long sword, though perhaps barely, being about stomach high on me, roughly three and a half foot long.  
  
"The giant gaming convention known as 'Gen-Con!'. Four days of glorious gaming. It's incredible. The gaming, I mean, not the sword."  
  
"Can I see it?" asked Brian.   
  
I paused for one more defensive move, reversing my weight, pointing the blade downward in a left guard. Then I handed it to him, hilt first.  
  
"Made in Spain?" he asked.  
  
"Nobody's perfect."  
  
He began imitating my maneuvers, which probably wasn't a good idea, I was imitating Duncan McLoud. Defensive postures were easy enough...high, low, left right, lateral parry. It was kind of hard to judge offensive moves, however, without someone to try them on.  
  
Brian passed the sword to Jenny, who held it, blade in left hand, hilt in right, her eyes closed.  
  
"As long as you don't yell out, 'For The Honor of Greyskull'," I joked. Jenny's eyes snapped open, and stared at me. Brian looked perplexed as well. "Sorry, sorry, 80s child... 80s child here." They exchanged glances, Brian shrugged. Jenny closed her eyes again.  
  
Holding a sword just seemed to feel right to Jenny. With her eyes still closed, she began a somewhat complex routine with the blade, sparring against an invisible opponent. It looked a lot like what I did, until I realized she was doing it all one handed. I needed two hands to guide my sword, even with untrained practice.  
  
We gave her room, as she ended the motion by taking a wicked swing at something about her neck level, and opened her eyes, which revealed shock, "How...how do I know how to do this?"  
  
We had no answer.  
  
"Look, Jenny, we better get home. Our parents will be worried," Brian said.  
  
She nodded. I grabbed my jacket. "One last question, what do we tell other people?"  
  
"If we tell others, and they believe us, we'll never leave the house again," said Brian, somberly.  
  
"Otherwise, they'll think we're crazy," Jenny said.  
  
Knowing my friends, that second option didn't apply to me. "So we don't tell them."  
  
Jenny handed my sword back to me. I got my shoes back on, and glanced at Penny. "All things considered, dog, I don't think you should come with me, this time."  
  
Penny, as beagles do, gave me the I'm-eating-so-leave-me-alone look. I moved to clamber the stairs behind Jenny and Brian.  
  
"Uhm, you know." I set the sword, pulling my pendant back out, unhitching the chain. I knelt down to one knee. "Could one of you clip this for me?"  
  
Brian slipped around behind me, fastening the chain. I pulled the pendant around to the front of my neck, retook my grip on the sword, as we made our way to the front door.  
  
I paused at the handle. "Item one, yes, I'm taking the sword with me. I've seen too much strange stuff tonight not to carry it. Item two, Jenny, you said you sensed the vampire before you saw him. Do you sense anything now?"  
  
Jenny blinked, and closed her eyes. A moment later, she reopened them. "No... I don't think so."  
  
"All right. Let's go."  
  
For all my preparation, it was an uneventful walk to Brian's bat, back to his house. We nodded as he headed back inside. I walked with Jenny back to her house. She looked at me, her eyes showing a mixture of surprise and fear, before heading in.  
  
I was returning to my house when I felt something watching me. I panicked, and begun to run to my door. I saw him behind me, and spun, holding the sword in front of me. His face was normal, his eyes brown.  
  
He looked amused at the weapon. "So. You're the Watcher."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about!" I cried.  
  
"Sure you don't. I'm going to have your Slayer as a snack. Her friend too. Just wait."  
  
I didn't react to the threat, just continued holding the sword, waiting for him to make a move. He didn't, however, he simply turned and walked back towards the main road. I backed up back in to the house...where I almost tripped over Penny, who had been barking her little head off.  
  
I regained my balance and shut the door before the dog could bolt, and returned to my room.  
  
I spent the remainder of my night, abusing my broadband Internet connection. Playing Google lotto with the terms, "Slayer", "Vampire", "Watcher", and "Undead", came up with many D&D references, even more "Masquerade" hits, and nothing worth my time.   
  
It was around 11:30 that I got the news Sammy had shattered a cork bat. I suppose it was a sign of my mental fatigue that my main thought was that I hoped it didn't cause Jenny to give up on baseball.  
  
On that happy note, I went to bed, and tried to sleep.  
  
The nightmares wouldn't let me. I could see people, others like Jenny and Brian, myself, consumed, turned into soulless monsters. The vampire plauge was spreading, like a cancer.   
  
Brian told me later he had experienced his own nightmares.  
  
Jenny, in her own bed, slept. Her images seemed more like visions then the average dream. She saw herself fighting vampires. And winning. When she woke in a cold sweat, it wasn't fear she felt.  
  
It was an odd feeling of exhilaration.  
  
*************************  
  
I awoke the next morning at the usual time at 6:30, needing to catch a train in not quite two hours.  
  
I did my usual preparations, showering eating, feeding the needy beagle, and checked the mail.  
  
While online, I read the 8 Bit Theater I had missed the day before, and checked the gaming news at the Spy. It was when I looked at the satirical newsite Fark.com that I truly remembered the night before.   
  
The headline was between one reading, "Weird: Farmer eating pigs: Not news. Pigs eating Farmer: News." and another, "Cool: Scientist cure diabetes in Monkeys. Monkeys looking forward to eating loads of candy." No, the one that jolted me read: "Scary: Witness claims girl murdered by Vampire. Gary Oldman unavailable for comment."  
  
I swallowed, and clicked the link to read the article, which came from a Baltimore newspaper.  
  
"Mrs. Buntel hasn't stopped crying.  
  
Last night, daughter Sara (13) went out with her younger brother Harry (8). She never made it back. About 9:30 PM, neighbors, alerted by Harry's screams, interrupted a violent attack on the young girl.  
  
She was found at the scene with her neck broken, and pronounced DOA at Baltimore County Hospital at 9:42 PM.  
  
When questioned, her brother could only say that 'Vampire did it...I saw it...she saved me.' The state has arranged for psychiatric evaluations of Harry.   
  
Other witnesses describe the man as a five foot ten light brown African American, with black hair. Police consider him to be armed and dangerous, and advise people not to intercept, but to instead call 911."  
  
  
  
"Powers," I whispered to myself, "what's going on here?" 


	5. In Light of Darkness

Chapter Five: In Light of Darkness  
  
"...and I'd never seen kids look so worried whenever somebody didn't show up for class."  
  
-Mr. Tess, Sunnydale High Chemistry Teacher (B:tVS RPG, Slayer's Handbook)  
  
I spent most of the train ride down composing a FARK board posting to the early article. Upon reaching the lab at school, I put up the following note:  
  
I've seen the darkness. It's out there, it's real. I think I've seen some light too, but I can't be sure. I've got to protect this light until it can shine away the darkness.  
  
-TZ  
  
  
  
*****************  
  
  
  
The important news of first period was Sammy Sosa's corked bat, for those interested in the baseball world.  
  
It hardly dominated school, especially one on the verge of being set free for summer.  
  
It was in second period that Jenny realized April was missing. April was not an excellent student, but she used to pride herself on her attendance. It was considered a shame that she would have an unexcused absence this close to the end.  
  
Then, in the third period, the rumor that she had vanished the night before began to circle around.  
  
The rumor was confirmed at lunch -- fourth period. One of the other students claimed to be checking his AOL mail and received an 'Amber Alert'. I, from downtown Chicago, got the same Amber Alert, but didn't know the significance.  
  
After school, Jennifer and Brian talked about it.   
  
"I don't think is a coincidence, Jenny."  
  
"I...hoped at first. My heart tells me that it isn't, though."  
  
"But what can we do about it? I mean...I don't want to go up against a vampire!" Brian looked closely at his friend. "I've seen that look before, Jenny. You can't be serious. You don't even know where to start looking, or are you going to go after a vampire on a bicycle?"  
  
"I'm going to do what needs to be done," she said, the intense look not fading from her eyes. "Who can we tell, Brian? Who's going to believe a couple of almost junior high kids claiming a classmate has been kidnapped by a vampire?"  
  
"Jenny, this is insane. Please! I had dreams about this," Brian cried, "We could end up capital D dead! Or worse!"  
  
"I had a dream, too, Brian," Jenny began, when she was interrupted by the arrival of their bus. Slinging her backpack over shoulder, she climbed aboard. The bus was always noisy, as it pulled out of Lake Bluff Middle School. Conversations ranged from Sosa's bat, to April's disappearance, or how much nothing they were going to do during summer vacation.  
  
Jenny and Brian sat next to each other, Brian glancing nervously out the window. "You were saying you had a dream, Jenny?" Brian prodded.  
  
"Yes, it was quite vivid," her eyes took on a far away, yet still intense, look as she described it. "I was in a graveyard. I had a small piece of wood, though thick as my fist and sharpened at one end..."  
  
"Like a tent stake," said Brian.  
  
"Yeah, like that. I was waiting for something. It took a minute or two before I heard the sounds. Something crawling up from the grave. I turned around and I saw..."  
  
"April?"  
  
"No. The vampire from last night, the one who looked like he was out of the Sopranos. And..." she faltered.  
  
"And?"  
  
"I fought him, Brian. Punches and kicks and everything, I felt like a black belt. In the end, when a solid kick, I think they're called a roundhouse, left him stunned, I pulled out the stake and put it through his heart. He looked at me, looked at the stake, and exploded in a cloud of dust."  
  
Brian looked hard at her, trying to determine if she was kidding.  
  
"Get up, Brian."  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"It's our stop."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The two made their way off the bus, where they went their separate ways home. Brian still thinking about what Jenny said. He would have been petrified if he'd seen her picking up a thick oak branch.  
  
******  
  
I got off the train, having passed my A+ Core exam. That part was good stuff. I headed home, this piece of my day was dedicated to checking my E-mail!   
  
"Junk. Spam. Spam. Junk. Listserv (click). (pause.) Spam, Junk...eh (click)?"  
  
--------------------------  
  
Subj: Light on Fark  
  
Date: 6/4/03 2:34:34 PM Central Daylight Time  
  
From: Watcher723@yahoo.com  
  
To: TheZorker  
  
I read your little note on Fark under the Vampire article. I'd like to arrange a meeting with you. I have information that I need to share, and I think you may know some things I need. Please reply back ASAP.  
  
--------------------------  
  
Horrible e-mail grammar. Not someone used to dealing with computers. I thought for second. It was legitimate, that was for sure. But was it a trap? Heh. Easy enough, though it'd have to wait for the weekend. I couldn't make it somewhere out of the way in daylight until Saturday, and I'd be damned if I was going to meet a stranger in the dark.  
  
--------------------------  
  
Subj: Re: Light on Fark  
  
From: TheZorker  
  
To: Watcher723@yahoo.com  
  
I need all the help I can get. Meet me at 2 PM, this Saturday, at the Evanston McDonalds on Church Street. I'll be wearing a purple shirt with a white Unicorn on it.  
  
--------------------------  
  
The whining to my left finally got my attention. Some things in my life were changing. Ol' Penny wasn't one of them. It was walking time.  
  
***************************  
  
Jenny finished carving her branch with a whittling knife her older brother had left behind when he went to college. She had first snapped it half, rather easily, and thus was left with a pair of stakes. Tucking them into her windbreaker, she grabbed her baseball and glanced at the clock. The time was five thirty. She strolled upstairs.  
  
"Jenny," her mother said, "your father and I are going out tonight. Will you be ok by yourself?"  
  
"Yes, Mom."  
  
"I've cooked a cheeseburger, and the fries are on the stove," she said, moving to the fridge to get the milk carton. "Finish your essay, and don't burn the house down." She looked at Jenny, "If you're going out to practice, be mindful of the time."  
  
"I'll be careful," promised Jenny. Then she slipped forward, and caught in her mother in an embrace.  
  
"Well, that's not like you, Jenny. I'll take it though," she smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Mom."  
  
Her mom left, and Jenny ate. Six O'clock. It wouldn't be sundown for another hour or more. She paced for a few minutes, then tried to relax with TV.   
  
Ironically, perhaps, it was Cartoon Network that was flipped on, showing the Powerpuff Girls. The episode with Nuts the Squirrel, and though Jenny had seen it a dozen or so times before, it was still funny. Following that was Dexter's laboratory, with the one where Monkey was being shot at by the weird Hunter.  
  
The hour of cartoons was over, and Jenny really didn't feel relaxed.  
  
It was time.  
  
Jenny opened the door, stepping out into the late evening. The sun was about to set.  
  
Time for vampires to be waking up.  
  
Jenny had no set plan in mind, she kind of figured that the vampires would come to her. She just didn't know how right she was.  
  
At the corner of Moffett and North, about nine PM, she felt the darkness in her mind. She stopped, closing her eyes, focusing on it. There were two, and one was...behind her. She instinctively dropped and rolled forward. Jumping to her feet, she turned, facing...  
  
"April?"  
  
April's eyes, normally brown, shone red. Her close cropped blond hair moved in the breeze. Her face, formerly attractive, was twisted so it was barely recognizable. "I know you," said Ex-April.  
  
"April...you're not like this. Fight it."  
  
"I'm so hungry," she said, and even her voice was twisted. April ran towards Jenny, red eyes glinting.   
  
Jenny didn't move.   
  
April closed in, still running. As she reached out her hands, Jenny crouched, grabbing the vampire's outstretched arms, hurling it over her shoulder.  
  
"April, don't make me do this. Come out. I know you're in there!"  
  
The vampire was flat on its back for a moment or two, stunned. I'm not sure it'd be accurate to say it had the wind knocked out of it. April climbed to her feet, looking at Jenny. "Hungry. You're food."  
  
Perhaps it was that moment that Jenny realized she would have no choice. She could feel April calling to her, but whatever was in there with her was stronger.  
  
April launched herself toward Jenny again. Jenny balled up her fists, thumbs on the outside. As April got close, Jenny fired her fist, connecting with April's forehead. April rocked back, unsteadily on her feet.  
  
Guided by instinct, strengthened by anger, Jenny pulled a stake from her windbreaker, stabbing into the vampire's heart.  
  
April looked down at the stake. She blinked, her eyes brown, though her face didn't change.  
  
"Good-bye, Jenny."  
  
Her classmate turned vampire exploded into a cloud of dust, briefly exposing a skeleton.  
  
Jenny collapsed to one knee, picking up the stake from where it had fallen on the ground. She stared at it, her vision blurring from free flowing tears. A nearby noise brought her to her feet. She wiped the tears from her face, grief turning to pure rage as she saw...  
  
"Hello, Slayer. I see you recognized that one," he said. It was indeed, the vampire from the previous evening, in the same tacky suit. "Give yourself up, tonight. I won't have to hurt any more of your friends. Otherwise, who knows who will be next? Maybe Brian."  
  
"BASTARD!" she screamed, hurling the stake. He twisted away, and it thunked into a nearby tree.  
  
"That's your decision, then. Very well, have it your way." He looked at her, then turned and fled. She ran after him, but he was faster. It was three blocks before the red haze cleared and she knew she wasn't going to catch him.  
  
She walked back to claim her stake. She needed to talk to someone. Not Brian, she didn't want him in the line of fire. Besides, he had homework. An adult, one who would believe her.  
  
***************************  
  
Our house is built on a hill. My bedroom is in the basement. I have window to the outside, enough to keep it from being a firetrap. I heard a knock on the window.  
  
"Com..." I started, then stopped. No sense in giving anyone a carte blanch invitation. I grabbed my blade, walking out the garage and around the house. I saw Jenny, stake in her hand.  
  
"Jenny? Are you all right?"  
  
"I...I need to talk to you, John," she said.  
  
"Jenny? You're shaking."  
  
"I had to kill her, John. Drive a stake through her heart."  
  
"Come inside, Jenny, tell me what happened," I said, moving through the garage.  
  
I grabbed a pair of sodas from my mini-fridge, handing one to her.  
  
She sipped on it, absently, as she related the events of the day.  
  
"Powers," I said, "it's spreading."  
  
She looked at me, the intent look back in her eye. Her shaking had stopped. "Tomorrow, John, you're going to help me find him. Brian too, if he'll come. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else. I'm going to drive a stake clear through the other side of his body."  
  
I met her gaze. I couldn't argue with it. 


	6. Candle in the Night

Chapter 6: Candle in the Night  
  
"It doesn't matter now what happens.  
  
I will never give up the fight."  
  
- Tony Harnell, It Doesn't Matter  
  
Jenny looked morose as she climbed on the raucous school bus.   
  
"Cheer up, Jen," said Sara.   
  
Brian who climbed behind her, glanced at Sara, but didn't say anything.  
  
They sat a few rows back, silently at first, until Brian spoke up. "I've been thinking Jenny. About everything that's happened these last few days. Last week, you were afraid you weren't going to get a hit in the baseball game. Now, you want to hunt a vampire."  
  
"Brian..."  
  
"Let me finish. I was the one trying to insist that you'd do fine. Then, when something actually important comes up, I'm the one insisting that its too risky."  
  
"Brian!"  
  
"So I've decided. I'm going to help you. This could be the most important thing we ever do in our life, saving other people. Pretty deep, huh?"  
  
"Brian, I found April last night. She had been turned into a vampire," Jenny began.  
  
"My God," he said, slumping into the bus's seat. "What happened?"  
  
Brian listened to her story, his eyes growing wide. He lowered his face when she described what happened after their classmate got staked.  
  
"Do you still want to help?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, If it means no one else ends up like her. What do we tell her family?"  
  
"John volunteered to work on that," she told him.  
  
"John?"  
  
"His dog isn't just man's best friend. It's ours too."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"After school then?" she asked.  
  
"I'll see you then. We'll meet after school at his house. Knock on his window."  
  
-----------------------  
  
I just wish that was only thing I had to do.  
  
April had been a child vampire in a twelve year old's body. Capone, as I had begun to think of the ultimate adversary was another matter entirely.  
  
A coworker of mine had once said that my car had carbon scoring, and had seen a lot of action. The nickname 'Battle Wagon' had stuck to it. It was still a good car, capable of getting me places.  
  
After Jenny had left, I had ran some more website searches, and came up with some places to visit.  
  
Stop one was finding some way to get my sword sharpened. All the sites I had been to had recommended a professional only. That wasn't an option, so I stopped by True Value for a "Tri-Stone Sharpener". I had to hope it was going to work.  
  
Stop two was what I had thought was an ethnic food store, a little place just on the other side of Lakecook Road. Well, I'm sure it was ethnic to someone, I'm just not sure who's ethnicity included 'Bat's Wings'. What they had for sale was holy water. They came in little vials with crosses on them.   
  
"What?" I mumbled to myself, "No garlic?"  
  
"We don't carry anything you can find in the Jewel, dearie," said the shopkeeper, a fifty year old polish woman. "We carry items for a more discriminating Wiccan."  
  
I swallowed, packed up a dozen bottles, and put them on my charge card.  
  
Therefore, stop three was a Jewel, on the way back, for garlic. I picked up three cloves, fresh.  
  
Stop four was the Vernon Hills mall, containing a small jewelry stand. There, however, I had to consider my purchase. According to some of the sites I had read, it wasn't the holy symbol, but the faith behind it. What this meant in light of holding off a vampire with a pewter Unicorn, however, I tried not to think about.  
  
I selected two small, silver crosses, and paid with a check.  
  
My final stop was Gamestop for Microsoft Game's 'Freelancer'. I was going to need some way of passing the time.  
  
Shopping list completed, I returned home. Two O'clock, I had a little while to play around with my new toy. It worked, at least as far as I could tell, trying my blade out on a convient apple.   
  
Then I sat down to try to write my letter.  
  
********************  
  
There is a war, that nobody talks about.  
  
It is a war between darkness and light. The darkness envelops, feeds. It is destructive, by its very nature.  
  
There is a light, that shines away the darkness.  
  
But the light can't be everywhere, and I'm afraid April was a casualty of this fact.  
  
Pray for us, for we have gone to confront that darkness. We will continue to fight that darkness.  
  
Signed, those that walk in the light.  
  
********************  
  
I read it over, twice, folded it over, and stared at the computer. Eschewing the still wrapped Freelancer game, I turned on Winamp, cranked up Kaz Silver's "Believe in Myself" and let it play.  
  
Multiple times.  
  
I was finally interrupted by a knock on the window, at about quarter to four. I went out to meet the knocker.  
  
"Brian, I think, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Jenny's parents are making her finish her English paper before coming out tonight. We're both having early dinners, and should be out around seven thirty."  
  
I winced. Sundown wasn't terribly long after that. "All right. Be quick."  
  
Brian nodded, headed back off.  
  
--------------------  
  
Brian and Jenny were sitting as they had two nights ago, in my bedroom. No music this time.   
  
"So. Do we have a plan?" Brian asked.  
  
"Well, I have stakes. John has a sword."  
  
"What do I get?" he asked.  
  
"That depends, how are you with grenades?" I inquired.  
  
"Grenades!" said Jenny, standing suddenly.  
  
"Not quite the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch," I said, grabbing at a plastic bag on my bed. One could hear glass clinking together. "Holy Water. Other then breaking glass, it's not going to hurt us much."  
  
"Phew," said Brian, wiping his forehead. "Don't do that to me again. I'm nervous enough."  
  
"How are we going to find him?" asked Jenny.  
  
I handed over a pair of printouts. "This is a list of for-sale houses in Lake Bluff. We think he's local, right?"  
  
"I thought...oh, if there's nobody *living* in them, good idea. We'll drive up to each one, and see if I can feel it," she said.  
  
"We better hurry. The sun's about to set," Brian said.  
  
*****  
  
I think it was at this point I realized my life was going insane. I was sitting in a station wagon driving around a pair of kids younger than the car was. The boy had a dozen vials of holy water, the girl was not only stronger than me, but used my own weapons better, and we were all hunting down a vampire more then double my age. Oh, and we all were wearing a clove of garlic.  
  
And to think, Mom said D&D was going to do strange things to me.  
  
The sun was, indeed, setting as we began to check out each temporarily unoccupied house.   
  
Near Lake Michigan, on Sunrise between Prospect and Ravine, we hit pay dit.  
  
"I feel something," said Jenny. "All sorts of icky vibes. That's got to be it."  
  
I parked the car, circling the house. "There's a forced window in the back. All the shades are otherwise drawn. I think this is the place, all right."  
  
Jenny walked to the front door.  
  
"You're kidding right, Jenny?" I asked.  
  
Brian began, "No sane Vampire would..." Jenny opened the door with a click. "...leave his door unlocked?"  
  
"More likely, any intruder is lunch."  
  
I got my sword. Brian got a vial out, and we took up flanking positions on Jenny. "Can you feel him?" I asked.  
  
"Down," came the answer.   
  
It took us a few moments to find the basement door. I motioned for us to hold up. "Jenny, I know you want to go first. I'll go next. It's sundown right now, Brian. Make sure he doesn't come back up the stairs, I don't want him to make a run for it."  
  
"This is it?" Brian asked.  
  
"This is it," replied Jenny.  
  
Jenny opened the door, and was relieved to find a light switch at the top of the stairs. She clicked it on.  
  
"That's rude," came the voice from the bottom of the stairs. "Shouldn't you at least warn people before turning on the light?"  
  
"Jenny!" I cried, as she charged down the stairs, stake out. I followed her, rapidly, making sure to hold on to my sword. Brian clambered down behind me.   
  
Jenny realized very quickly that they had made an error. There was not a vampire down the stairs of this abandoned house.  
  
There were two. One newly risen, and Capone himself, Jenny prepared for battle.  
  
Brian and I, however, weren't so enthused. I quickly surveyed. "Brian, one at a time. Let's get Capone first."  
  
"Oh, that's hardly fair, you brought friends. But I guess I did, too," Capone said as his partner growled. Then his game face came on, ducking as Brian threw a vial at him.  
  
Jenny went straight for Capone with a stake, but he dodged it, landing a kick of her own that knocked her back.  
  
I tried to come to her aid, but was intercepted by the minion. I launched a downward slash that he just wasn't ready to take. "That's a cut above the belt," I said, focusing on him.  
  
Capone tried to pounce on Jenny, to knock her down. He was himself interrupted by a burst of pain to the body. Brian pitched a strike directly home. The water was clearly burning the vampire, so that worked out.   
  
"Garlic?" asked Capone. "That'll be useful when I serve your intestines with a white wine sauce. Only Dracula couldn't..." he was interrupted by a punch to his chest.  
  
I was having my own problems. I was the owner of the sharp pointy metal weapon, so that was one up for me. The vampire was stronger, faster, and tireless, three up for him. I took a raking to the side with some kind of claw.   
  
"You should get those cut. Ouch." I was starting to waver.  
  
Jenny's kick was followed up by Brian delivering another fresh water delivery to the vampire's noggin. Jenny threw a kick to the groin, and despite not needing them any more, doubled over in pain.  
  
Grabbing her other stake, screaming, Jenny stabbed it into the vampire's heart. Capone looked up, meeting Jenny's eyes...and then poofed.  
  
I was down on one knee, sword up, but merely defensive. The vampire was going to win, and he knew it.  
  
He just didn't know to look behind him.  
  
I was treated to a moment of absolute shock on the vampire's face as the stake pierced his heart from behind, and he crumbled into dust.  
  
I was not prepared for the pure anger in Jenny's face, as she raised the stake to stab again.  
  
"Jenny! I'm...NO!"  
  
The stake hovered there for a moment before lowered slowly down.  
  
"We did it?" Jenny asked.  
  
"Yeah, we did it. Let's clean up the broken glass and go home," said Brian.  
  
"Yeah. Let's do that," I said.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
"You went berserk, didn't you?" I asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Jenny asked.  
  
"You lost control of yourself, in the fight."  
  
"I...guess I did. I kept thinking about April, and how he was going to pay."  
  
"He's dead now, and you..."  
  
Ding! "You've Got Mail!"  
  
"That reminds me," I said. I filled Jenny in on the mail I got from my Fark posting the day before. "Want to come with me?"  
  
"I can't," she said quickly. "I have a baseball game!" 


	7. Meeting

Chapter 7: Meeting  
  
"It's all been done...before."  
  
-Barenaked Ladies, It's All Been Done  
  
Evanston was not terribly far from home in Lake Bluff. About 45 minutes by train, or 30 minutes almost straight down Illinois route 41.   
  
The night before, I had received an affirmitive reply to the time and location of my meeting from Watcher723@yahoo.com. So I was on my way to keep my two o'clock appointment, and get lunch at the same time. I parked at my usual garage at the end of the street, near the train station.  
  
Church street was rather busy, as was usual for a downtown Evanston Saturday. I snagged some money out of my pocket, as I headed in the McDonalds. It was 1:50 as I got in line. Ordering a #9 (Filet of Fish Sandwich, Fries, and Medium Coke - No Ice), I sat down near the front windows at just before 2 O'clock.  
  
2:05 came and went. My contact was late. At 2:10 I began to get nervous, not to mention, I was about done with my food.  
  
People had been walking in and out, and I had cease to pay attention to them.  
  
I was snapped back to reality, by a middle aged man with brown hair and eyes, wearing a pair of spectacles and what was an undoubtedly tweed jacket.  
  
"That's an interesting combination of unicorn jewelry and shirt," he said.  
  
"It's a Ki-Rin," I replied, dryly.  
  
"Actually, a Ki-Rin looks more like a deer, and has no mane. I suppose the pendant may be a Ki-Rin, but your shirt is definitely a unicorn. You are 'TheZorker', correct?"  
  
"I am. You can call me John. You're the Watcher on Yahoo?"  
  
"Yes, my name is Giles. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm sufficiently hungry enough to even try this American 'grub'."  
  
Well, I had heard McDs called worse things then that. More noticeable was his slight British accent. I was trying to place it while he stood in lines. It wasn't Yorkshire, not Cornwall. Maybe London, or Cambridge. I looked up at him as he sat down.  
  
"You're British?" I asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I used to live there, while my dad was in the Navy. I lived just outside of London, little place called Rickmansworth."  
  
"Ah," He glances at his grilled chicken, as if expecting it to get up again. Selecting a french fry, he begins to eat.  
  
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. I longed for Winamp, but he was more interested in studying me.  
  
"Unicorns are such interesting things. One of the few supernatural creatures that are dedicated to actual goodness. It's a shame their almost extinct."  
  
OK, this guy was probably nuts. On the other hand, if Vampires really existed, why not Unicorns? "This is actually an affiliation with a game," I started, "The Unicorn clan of Legend of the Five Rings."  
  
"Oh," he said, in the traditional non-geek way saying he didn't understand and didn't care to. A bit more of a pause followed. "I make a history of studying the supernatural, you see. I'm curious to know what made you claim this darkness exist, and what this light you found is."  
  
"So you believe in vampires, then?"  
  
"Yes, I've seen several. Generally stop them with a stake through the heart, though a crossbow bolt serves in a pinch. Holy water will do it, to, but that works best if its ingested. Normally, vampires are smarter about that kind of thing."  
  
"And those that fight them?" I asked, cautiously.  
  
The man, I realized I still didn't know his name, looked at me hard. "Those that fight them. There's a legend that states that in every generation, there will be one born with the strength and courage to fight vampires, and halt the spread of the numbers.  
  
"The vampire slayer," I said, reflecting it into the words of Capone, who claimed to feel 'Slayer' in Chicago.   
  
"Yes, the vampire slayer," I felt his eyes boring into me. He continued, "I have reason to suspect, though, that there is more than one. They are awakening all over the world. I read the same article that you did, about one in Baltimore that was not found in time. Do you think you have found one?"  
  
I dropped my eyes to my cooling fish, taking a bite. "Who are you? Why should I trust you? I've seen dark things these last few days."  
  
His voice softened, "While there was only one slayer, there were those called Watchers that were supposed to find those that could become the slayer. Most of them are now dead, killed by a force I will not name here. I am Rupert Giles, commonly called Giles. I am one of the last of the Watchers."  
  
I have always been keen to nuances of wordplay, probably all the card games I played. "You said was and were. You suspect they awake, or you know?"  
  
He looked at me, now aware of his slip, "I know. Have you found one of the newly awakened?"  
  
I thought it over. Take the chance he was not on my side, or go for it? I finished off my fish, picking at my now cold fries. I chose my words carefully, "I think so. This person claims to have had dreams of fighting vampires. This person, along with a friend, and myself, has turned three to dust."  
  
"She has had dreams, had she?" he mused to himself.  
  
I started. I had not told him anything about this person, yet he all ready assumed it was a female, "I said the person had dreams, and you refer to a she?" I asked.  
  
"It was always a female, I knew no reason it would change."  
  
I stopped picking at my fries. There was a lot he wasn't telling me. We had come to a point of mutual distrust, it seemed.  
  
"I want to meet her," he said, finally.  
  
"I'm not sure that's my decision to make. She not yet in junior high, and she has parents. She had her reservations about me meeting you in the first place." That was a lie. She wanted anyone possible to shed light on her dreams. Baseball took a higher priority, however.  
  
"We've lost one in Baltimore," he reminded me. "Do you want to risk your friend dying?"  
  
I didn't want to risk *anyone* dying. Life was precious to me. But either way, I was taking a risk...  
  
"Very well. I suppose I'll just have to chance it. My name is John," I said, holding my hand out.  
  
He took it, and shook it.  
  
"I, suppose you have a car? I am staying in Evanston, and took the elevated train from Midway."  
  
"I do," I said, as we disposed of our garbage, making our way down to the parking garage.  
  
"Why were you late?" I asked suddenly.  
  
"The Northwestern Library is right next store. They have this *marvelous* occult section," he said in all seriousness.  
  
Giles eyes widened in shock at the music coming from my car, but said nothing audible.   
  
  
  
I just wish either of us had known we were being followed. 


	8. Share No Evil

I'm going to apologize right here, right now. This is a short chapter, as I finally have an idea of where I'm going after this.  
  
Chapter 8: Share No Evil  
  
"Who Are You?"  
-The Who  
  
"...and so that's what happened to Sunnydale," Giles said, describing his last few adventures.  
  
"So these slayers are 'awakening'," I responded, passing the Deerpath turn off, "all over the world. Endangering their friends and family, but being able to protect them from that danger, at the same time."  
  
"Yes. Those of us that can have gone out looking for them, as quickly as we could. It was not quick enough for Sara Buntel, I'm afraid."  
  
"Exactily what do you do when you catch up with one?" I asked.  
  
"That's a good question. The fight with the First occured only a week ago."  
  
"...and Jenny is the first one you've reached," I said, slowly. I signaled for the turn onto 176, heading for Lake Bluff Park.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Jenny was in awe of the game she was having. Going 2 for 3, with both a double and a home run, not to mention a hard hit (if caught) liner. Even Andrew had given her a compliment.  
  
Top of the sixth. If David and Andrew could nail it down, Jenny would be able to head home. Patroling the right field grass, she handled chances cleanly, but never needing to do more than catch the ball.  
  
Giles and I got out of the car to watch the game, what little of it there was left.  
  
A called strike three ended the game, anticlimatically, Jenny thought. Daved and Andrew, the battery, clasped hands, cheering.  
  
Jenny, looking over to the stands, saw me and the obviously out of place Giles, and nodded. She skirted the group of cheering players, heading for her mother, when she saw a familiar figure out of the corner her eye. She turned, shutting her eyes and reopening them. "Amy?" she asked, looking at her dead friend in the eyes. Amy smiled at her, brown eyes shining.  
  
Jenny stopped, rubbing them. When she opened them again, Amy was gone.  
  
"Am I seeing things?" she whispered.  
  
She shook her head to clear it, then headed to hermother  
"Yes, Jenny?"  
  
"We're going to be going out for Ice Cream, and David's mom as offered to drop us off. Is it ok?"  
  
"Us?" Jenny's mom asked.  
  
"Brian and I," she replied.  
  
"Oh! Sure, that'll be fine. I'll see when you get done," She paused a second, "...and you did such a great job today honey," she said, gripping the girl in a firm embrace.  
  
Jenny blushed. Then made her way back to the team.  
  
There was the customary heroine remarks, as the group cheered for Jenny, it took about ten minutes for the group to finally start to break up, people heading for home.  
  
Brian looked up, "Hey, wait, did your mom leave?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You want us to *walk* home?" he asked.  
  
Jenny didn't respond, she just pointed up at Giles and myself.  
  
"A-ha."  
  
I watched as the pair made their way up to us.  
  
Jenny pointed to the far side of the parking lot, "No! It can't be! Not again!  
  
"What? Jenny?" I asked, as she raced for the the other side.  
  
Jenny turned the corner. Amy stood there, looking at her. "Why didn't you save me?" she asked, quietly.  
  
"Amy... how..." as Jenny sputtered, the girl turned, fading away with each step she took.  
  
Brian caught up with her first, "Jenny? What was that?"  
  
"Amy... it was Amy."  
  
"Amy?" I asked, perplexed, "You told me Amy was dead... a vampire... you staked her."  
  
"I did... I saw her..."  
  
"Not again," Giles said, holding his hand to his face.  
  
"What?" I asked, then I realized that I had all ready knew. Giles had just told me.  
  
"It's the First. Again." 


End file.
